Jags GM: 10-15 touches / game for Denard

According to Alex Marvez (Senior NFL Writer for FOX Sports) on Twitter, the GM of the Jags said in a radio interview today that the "plan" is for Denard to receive "10-15 touches a game" and to return kicks.

That is a lot of touches, especially for a rookie and a fifth-round draft pick. Even if Denard doesn't actually end up getting that many touches, this quote definitely speaks well for Denard's camp performance.

Because, you know, Denard had a functional right (throwing and dominant) arm. Oh, yeah, and Denard also knew how to actually play RB and WR. He knew how to block, how to line up, how to read his blocks, how to take a hand off, how to run a route, all those things because he had like 2.5 weeks of practice to do them in season.

So I understand why it's valid to bash Borges when Borges should have had Denard in on third and long to throw the ball deep, or maybe to be the primary blocking running back, or maybe get great seperation on a deep post, or basically anything that prevented OSU from stacking the box, because Denard was capable of all those things... right.

Well, first of all Denard only played one game at not-QB before OSU (vs. a pretty terrible Iowa team) and he had over a month to prepare for South Carolina.

But more to the point, you cite how little that mattered in the first half without realizing that maybe Meyer and co. made a few adjustments after halftime after it became obvious that Michigan was using Robinson in a very limited role.

Now, you can make the argument that UM did this because Borges is stupid or bad at his job, but isn't it within the realm of possibility that a guy who was injured and only had a couple weeks of practice at RB might be limited in what he could run as part of the offense? I'm not saying that Borges is above reproach, but you have to take the entire situation into account, and Robinson sliding into RB on short notice isn't an ideal one given the complexities of football.

Yes, when OSU was still playing Denard honestly, as if he could throw, he did well. When they realized he couldn't throw, they stacked the box and sent defenders blitzing because Denard couldn't pick up anyone.

I would have liked to see Denard used a bit more as a decoy, particularly on fake jet sweeps or the like. But that doesn't give Denard more touches, which was your complaint. OSU was stacking the box and even Michigan's best runner, Denard, couldn't break through in the second half. DG was off that day, but much of the playcalling wasn't poor, it was poorly executed.

if you are using him to run the ball or as the fake on a play action pass. The way Borges used him in the game was primarily as a running QB. When Devin was in it was going to be a pass most of the time. The fact Borges hardly if at all used Devin and Denard on the field at the same time was perplexing given what we had seen the week before.

As I said above, primarily on decoys, but you can only do so much. Borges hardly did any, and that's a valid critisicm, but what many people wanted him to do just wasn't feasible. On play action to Denard, Denard couldn't pick up any blitz, so you're running a huge risk there. The play action wasn't very believable either because Denard still didn't really grasp how to even take a handoff, let alone fake like he did. He struggled catching the ball cleanly, partly from inexperience but probably also because of his arm.

On passes, his routes weren't very good, so you only had a few options: namely fly patterns and patterns out of the backfield, where he still struggled to catch the ball.

I thought 2-4 decoys in the second half would have been nice, but Denard's role was going to be limited.

Rotoworld had a little more on what Caldwell said (HERE) - the situation, per this blurb says that the Jaguars are looking at him to be the change-of-pace back (I assume that means from impulse to warp drive thanks to Dilithium) and perhaps Robinson will even see some time as a slot receiver, according to David Caldwell.

It's a compliment to Denard's camp performance, as this theoretically makes him Jones-Drew's primary backup right now, if I am not mistaken.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some Denard, but I doubt he'll be a primary kick returner to start the year. As far as I remember, Denard participated in 1 KR during college (he was on the field and didn't touch the ball) and the Jags also drafted SC (NTSC)'s Ace Sanders in the 2nd round, who was a punt returner in college, and a pretty good one. I don't doubt that the Jags might put both Ace and Denard back for kicks, but he's not going to be given the job by any means.